UAE Was Ranked the Arab World’S Most Innovative Country Earlier This Year, We Are Reminded That It All Began 47 Years Ago
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UNITED ARAB EMIRATES He who does not know his past cannot make the best of his present and future, for it is from the past that we learn. – Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan How innovation is transforming a nation PRODUCED BY PRESS REPORT HOUSE www.prhouse.co.uk DESIGN BY RASPBERRY JAM PUBLISHING www.raspberryjampublishing.co.uk contents FEATURES How innovation is transforming a nation ................03 Talent is the new oil ........................................................19 Expo 2020 Dubai Celebrating Innovation ...............38 Ready, steady, trade ........................................................57 Back to the future ............................................................76 INTERVIEWS EXPO 2020 Dubai ...........................................................08 Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence ...............11 ADNOC ...............................................................................14 DP World ............................................................................23 Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre .....................27 DarkMatter .........................................................................31 Careem ................................................................................34 EXPO 2020 Dubai ...........................................................40 Emirates ..............................................................................43 Siemens ................................................................................47 Dubai Airports ..................................................................50 Seafood souq .....................................................................53 Dubai FDI ...........................................................................59 Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi .........................................62 Madar Farms .....................................................................66 Kestrel Global ...................................................................69 Chalhoub Group ..............................................................73 American University of Sharjah .................................78 PURE Genetic ...................................................................82 KIZAD ...................................................................................86 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 2018 4 HOW INNOVATION IS TRANSFORMING A NATION innovation noun US / a new idea or method, or the use of new ideas and methods. Cambridge dictionary 2018 marks the centenary of one of the Middle East’s most revered leaders, the late and great Sheikh Zayed, a man who was the personification of the word so commonly used across boardrooms and incubators the world over: innovation. Sheikh Zayed was the man behind the union of the seven emirates, the man who believed the oil wealth belonged to his people and began the development of a modern state. He propelled the country into the fast-forward mode that prevails to this day. As the UAE was ranked the Arab world’s most innovative country earlier this year, we are reminded that it all began 47 years ago. Sheikh Zayed was a man of big ideas, open to new methods and peoples, an example that still paves the way for all to feel welcome in the UAE, among the 200 nationalities and ethnicities who reside here, from the Bedouins to the new Blockchain bosses. On December 1st, the Emirati passport became the most powerful on the planet with access to 167 countries without prior visa requirements, surpassing Singapore and Germany, an extraordinary feat for a young country celebrating their 47th anniversary the following day. The December 2nd celebrations mark the advent of the union of seven emirates, and the creation of the United Arab Emirates in 1971. The union was the result of perhaps the first of the big ideas, initiated by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the then ruler of Abu Dhabi and Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the then Ruler of Dubai. Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital, struck oil in 1958 and began exporting in 1962. Sheikh Zayed and his fellow rulers put the oil money to use and built the foundation blocks for an economy open to the world, keen to emulate what they had seen abroad, building roads, schools, the port of Jebel Ali (one of the world’s largest to this day) and everything in between. A British journalist quoted Sheikh Zayed saying “The oil business is like a lottery, I might still be poor and my neighbors rich, so we ought to help each other”. And help he did, from neighboring countries to the four corners of the Earth, not without first enabling his citizens to become some of the wealthiest and most future-ready in the world 47 years on. If only all those who top UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 2018 5 The Louvre Abu Dhabi, Jean Nouvel's latest creation, opened its doors in November 2017 the Forbes’ list today, be it tech billionaires or industrialists, could say that they too carried an entire nation with them. Henry Ford famously introduced the $5 a day wage and in so doing, increased the productivity of his factories converting workers into a middle class who could afford the very products they were making. Ford understood an economy as an eco-system. The UAE has taken that model a step further pushing the education agenda and rewarding Emiratis well, instilling a drive hard to emulate, seemingly fueled by respect and gratitude towards the leadership, creating a positive knock- on effect. Citizens in turn strive to do the best they can for their country, working with determination as if for a higher power, a cause, or their leaders, past and present. There’s a general sense of togetherness and purpose so many of us seek in other parts of the world. In a TED talk, tech investor Nick Hanauer reminded us that “The difference between a poor society and a rich society is the degree to which that society has generated solutions to their citizens’ problems”. Just two weeks ago, the UAE held its annual government meetings to establish yet another roadmap. The ambitions are frequently very high and expected to be executed in record time. Today, nobody would question their capabilities. On the agenda? To be among the top 10 nations in the World Food Security index; that 13% of GDP be powered by Artificial Intelligence by 2030; to enhance the advanced sciences environment in the UAE, to attract ever more scientists and innovators; to equip their youth with advanced skills to meet the requirements of the future job market and embrace life-long learning… among so many other targets they continuously set themselves that address issues of national interest with the overarching goal to prepare their youth, anticipate and innovate. Planning and very long-term planning seem to be key in the UAE. The space UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 2018 6 program, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain strategies are on 3 to 100-year plan paths. Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad, from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Washington – Tacoma spoke at a Dubai Future Foundation event a month ago explaining that while different societies will address challenges in their own way, reflecting their historical and cultural background, the concept of Artificial life is not alien to the Islamic tradition. “Muslim scholars, starting with Jabir ibn Hayyan talked about the concept of Takwin which equates to the concept of creating artificial life. Many of these scholars were also religious scholars. They did not see contradiction in their religious commitments and the creation of artificial life a thousand years ago.” It is only fitting therefore that the first ever Minister of Artificial Intelligence be appointed in the United Arab Emirates. That the young Minister speaks of responsible development of technology being important is a responsibility one would only expect the forward-thinking Emiratis to plan for. Sheikh Zayed was also innovative in how progressive he was in other ways, from conservation and a love for wildlife to foreign aid, and perhaps most remarkably, for supporting the role of women at work. His wife, Sheikha Fatima, famously campaigned for female literacy and for women to seek work in politics as in any other realm. Today’s UAE government cabinet comprises of 9 female Ministers, including key Ministries from Advanced Sciences or Food security to Transportation. The country surpasses Switzerland and the U.S. in terms of GDP per capita, ranks 7th in the world in proven oil wealth, and with Abu Dhabi’s investment arm - the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority already considered the third largest Sovereign Wealth Fund in the world- wealth is no longer something to be attained in monetary terms. The wealth the Emirates seek lies in knowledge and in their ability to exceed their own capabilities every day, in different ways. Investing in their own people, in their own country as well as others and abroad, the UAE is a force to be reckoned with, and the sky is not the limit, as the launch of Khalifasat into space proved. Innovation is engrained into the overall governmental strategy, as well as into every private company, from tech to traditional. It is embedded in the future-focused startups that have emerged across the Emirates, from Sheraa in Sharjah to Krypto Labs in Abu Dhabi, and Area 2071 or The Greenhouse in Dubai, pollinating progress across tech and every area of life. Out of the desert has sprung this extraordinary oasis of ideas and possibility. And it all began with one man with a vision, the master innovator that was Sheikh Zayed. l Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque opened